1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power generating apparatus and more particularly to an arrangement of a canister containing an adsorbent for adsorbing thereonto fuel that evaporates from an engine fuel tank of the power generating apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional power generating device having a canister containing the evaporative fuel adsorbent is described in Japanese Publication No. JP-7-34985. The device described in JP 7-34985 includes an engine, a fuel tank for storing fuel to be supplied to the engine, and a canister containing an adsorbent for adsorbing thereonto fuel that evaporates from the fuel tank. The canister includes a communicating tube, which places the canister in communication with the atmosphere. The canister is also in communication with an intake system of the engine.
The engine is driven by fuel supplied from the fuel tank and outputs a motive force of a predetermined magnitude. During the course of this operation, as described above, the adsorbent and the canister containing the adsorbent therein generally work as follows. Evaporative fuel (e.g., fuel vapor) is roughly constantly produced in the fuel tank. During a period in which the engine is stopped or in a low-speed range of operation (e.g., idling), most of the evaporative fuel is adsorbed by the adsorbent, thereby inhibiting release of the evaporative fuel into the atmosphere.
When the engine is in a medium-speed or high-speed range of operation, a negative pressure builds up inside the intake system of the engine. The negative pressure causes atmospheric air to be sucked into the canister through the communicating tube of the canister. The evaporative fuel that is evaporated from the fuel tank and is flowing toward the canister is sucked with the air, which is sucked into the canister through the communicating tube, into the intake system and supplied to the engine, where it is subjected to combustion. The evaporative fuel that has been adsorbed onto the adsorbent is purged from the adsorbent by the air sucked through the communicating tube into the canister, and subjected to combustion as described above.
The power generating apparatus has a frame and the engine is provided inside the frame to drive the generator. However, some power generating apparatuses do not include the adsorbent and a canister containing the adsorbent therein. When the canister containing the adsorbent therein is simply added to such a power generating apparatus, the power generating apparatus can be increased in size, which is undesirable, in particular, for a portable power generating apparatus.
To prevent the power generating apparatus from being increased in size, for example, positioning the canister adjacent to the air cleaner included in the intake system of the engine to thereby attain a compact arrangement is conceivable. However, such an arrangement can cause inconvenience in that the canister obstructs maintenance of an element or the like in the air cleaner.